'Blood, Sweat and Tears:' The Life of a Fighter

Ian Cohen

PHILADELPHIA -- When Ian Cohen takes a punch to the face or a kick to the ribs, he’s not thinking about the pain.
He’s focused on his goal of becoming a mixed martial arts champion.

“As far back as I can remember, all I wanted to do is fight and be known as the toughest guy around,” he said.
Cohen, of North Wales, got a taste of his first scrap as a child when a fight broke out between him and another player during a T-ball game. “I remember him teasing me and then I was on top of him — just hitting the kid ... over and over," he said.
In high school, Cohen took out his aggression in bare-knuckle fistfights with friends for fun to see who was the toughest in the group. “The cool kids," he said, "were the ones who could throw down fists and fight. If you were a good fighter, you were popular.”
Cohen said he didn’t fight just to gain popularity, but also to protect others. Cohen, who is dyslexic and whose younger brother has autism, said he'd stick up for other students who were being bullied and often walk them to class.